McConnell: Don’t Read Benghazi Suspect Khatallah His Rights

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Tuesday the captured Libyan militant suspected of carrying out the Benghazi attacks of 2012 should be “interrogated extensively” and shouldn’t be given due process rights.

He was asked if Ahmed Abu Khatallah should be tried in a U.S. court, as authorities intend on doing.

“First I congratulate those who were involved in capturing this guy. I think that’s a significant step. He needs to be interrogated extensively. And I hope that will occur,” McConnell said. “There has been a tendency in this administration, as you know, to treat this like a law enforcement matter. Read them their rights. Get them a lawyer. I hope they’re not doing that.”

He added: “The most valuable thing we can get from this terrorist is information about who else was involved in it. We’ll be watching closely to see how much information they glean from it and how they’ll be handling it.”

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Sahil Kapur is TPM's senior congressional reporter and Supreme Court correspondent. His articles have been published in the Huffington Post, The Guardian and The New Republic. Email him at sahil@talkingpointsmemo.com and follow him on Twitter at @sahilkapur.